Crater nets first league win in three years

CENTRAL POINT — Who could blame the Crater volleyball players for being emotional?

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Posted Sep. 12, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Sep 12, 2012 at 12:18 AM

Posted Sep. 12, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Sep 12, 2012 at 12:18 AM

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CENTRAL POINT — Who could blame the Crater volleyball players for being emotional?

They'd just dispatched South Medford in a gritty, tense, five-set thriller Tuesday, and it marked the Comets' first league conference victory in nearly three years.

"Everybody was jumping up and down and screaming, and I think a few people were crying," said Crater coach Jen Mendenhall of the aftermath of the 13-25, 25-23, 26-24, 23-25, 15-13 Southern Oregon Hybrid victory.

"It was very emotional and people were super excited and kind of forgot what they were doing," she said.

She had to gather her players and calm them down so they could "clap hands" and congratulate South Medford for a scintillating battle.

Not since Crater was a Class 5A team playing in the Southern Sky Conference had it won a league match.

None of the five current seniors were on that team, meaning this was their first league victory wearing school colors.

Since then, it had dropped 18 straight, including 0-8 SOH records the past two seasons.

The emotion flowed freely for that reason and because the Comets seemed to expend every ounce of energy at their disposal.

"I don't know if we've fought back that hard in any match since I've been here," said Mendenhall, in her second year.

When it couldn't put the match away in Game 4, Crater (3-4, 1-1 SOH) jumped out to a 12-6 lead in the rubber game.

"Then we kind of got in a lull," said Mendenhall. "We got ahead of ourselves. We were too excited about being that much ahead in that fifth game."

South Medford (1-2, 0-2 SOH) rallied to tie it at 12-12. With no timeouts left, Mendenhall implored her kids to play one point at a time. It helped them get back "in the moment," she said, and they closed out the match.

Freshman outside Destiny Fahndrich ignited the Comets in the third game with a service run of a half-dozen points.

For St. Mary's (3-4), sophomore middle Dakota Rothfus had a good all-around match with three kills, seven service points and five digs. The Crusaders received five kills and five digs from outside hitter Nina Console and setter Maddy Gregg had eight service points and 15 assists.